How to Make Your iPhone 5′s Keyboard Shortcuts Faster

Xpandr 2 is a jailbreak tweak that allows iPhone users to make their keyboard shortcuts faster.

iDB explains:

Apple introduced a sort of “TextExpander light” in iOS 5, and it came in the form of Keyboard Shortcuts. Keyboard shortcuts work, but unlike TextExpander, they don’t immediately expand; instead, the shortcuts appear as suggestions, and then you have to use the space bar to fully expand them.

Since Xpandr two plays off of the already existing Keyboard Shortcuts feature in iOS, you need to setup some shortcuts before you can actually use the tweak. To do that, simply head over to the Settings > General > Keyboard > Shortcuts. Once there you should see an Add New Shortcut option at the bottom; tap that, and enter the phrase you want to assign to the shortcut, and a few characters to comprise the actual shortcut that you will use.

Once you’ve set up all of the shortcuts that you desire, install Xpandr 2, and head to its settings panel in the Settings app. There, you will see an option for Expand Immediately. Toggle that option to the on position, and you’re ready to start expanding some text.

The wonderful thing about Xpandr 2, is that it’s native; it’s totally system wide. That means that it works in any app, unlike the dumbed down iOS version of TextExpander. Even better, is the fact that Apple implemented iCloud syncing in iOS 6, so once all of your iOS 6 devices are jailbroken and running Xpandr, you’ll have immediate expansion for your entire list of keyboard shortcuts across all devices.

Xpandr is available for $1.99 on Cydia’s BigBoss repo. Some have commented that two bucks is an expensive price to pay in order to not have to press the spacebar. To those people who say that, you won’t understand unless you use TextExpander on a regular basis. Having text that immediately expands, instead of relying on a press of the spacebar can save a lot of time if you’re typing. You don’t have to reprogram your mind each time you switch from the desktop to a mobile platform.